BELMONT — The Belmont County Fair Association will mark the renovation of the farmhouse at Royal Smith Farm at 174 Mile Hill Road, one of the oldest homes still standing in town, with an open house at the property on Sunday, Feb. 15, between 2 and 4 p.m.

Fran Wendelboe of New Hampton, president of the association, said yesterday that the project was undertaken almost entirely by volunteers, including inmates from the Belknap County Jail and students of the Huot Technical Center at Laconia High School. Financial assistance was provided by the Persons family of Gilford, Earl Leighton of Sanbornton, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and the Sargent Fund.

The renovated building will be shared between the association, and a tenant who will serve as a caretaker of the property. The rental income will support the annual Belknap County Fair. In addition to an office with a galley kitchen the building will house a two-bedroom apartment with a living room, dining room, kitchen and one-and-a-half bathrooms.

Those who took part in the project along with members of the public are welcome at the open house. Refreshments will be served and tours offered, Wendelboe urged prospective tenants to attend or contact her directly at 968-7988.

LACONIA — Contamination of recycling containers is becoming a growing problem, especially at four remote sites — the Memorial Park clubhouse, Lakeport Fire Stattion, Weirs Community Center, and the Messer Street garage, according to Ann Saltmarsh, who oversees the recycling program at the Department of Public Works.

Saltmarsh said yesterday that the amount of trash and garbage found in the containers is increasing and, in particular, stressed that plastic bags of any kind should not be mingled with recyclable materials. She explained that with single-stream recycling all recyclable materials are sorted by sensitive machinery, which easily becomes fouled by plastic bags. Most grocery stores collect plastic bags near their entranceways, she said, urging residents to use those receptacles rather than contaminate the recycling containers.

Saltmarsh said that recently two of the large recycling containers — each with a capacity of 30-cubic yards — were so contaminated with trash, garbage, leaves, limbs and plastic bags that they had to be emptied at the Transfer Station at a cost of $200 apiece. Recycling, she noted, is intended to save money, but costs money money when contaminated loads have to be hauled to a disposal site.

LACONIA — With major storms on the first two weekends of February, City Manager Scott Myers said yesterday that "we're close, if not on the edge, of what we've allocated for winter maintenance."

By the end of January, the Department of Public Works (DPW) had spent $343,930, or 85 percent, of the $406,000 appropriated for winter maintenance, leaving a balance of $62,069. So far this winter DPW has spent $43,440 in November, $170,066 in December and $130,424 in January.

Myers said that the cost of the two storms in February have yet to be tallied, but anticipated that because the first extended into the weekend and the second occurred on a weekend, both would be costly.

For the moment, the city is short on salt as well as money, Myers said. He explained there is plenty of road salt at the Granite State Mineral depot at Portsmouth Harbor, but the frequency of heavy snowfall has led to a shortage of trucks to deliver it. He said that many of the trucks that would be delivering salt are busy hauling snow.

Myers assured residents that the DPW will continue to plow and treat the city streets through the winter and said there would be sufficient funds in the budget to address any overage in winter maintenance expenses.